Pagination SEO: how to handle multi-page lists

The short answer

Pagination splits a long list into numbered pages. For SEO, give each page its own address and its own canonical, link the pages with ordinary links, and do not point every canonical at page one. Google no longer uses rel next and prev. Infinite scroll works only if each chunk of content also has its own address.

What pagination SEO involves

Pagination is the splitting of a long list across several pages, and pagination SEO is the work of doing that without hiding items or creating duplicates. You see pagination in product categories, blog archives, directories and search results inside a site. Google treats each address in a paginated sequence as a separate page.

The work comes down to two jobs. Visitors need to move through the list easily. Crawlers need to reach every item in it. Problems appear when the pages cannot be reached, when they are all treated as copies of the first page, or when items sit on pages that nothing links to.

What Google's guidance says

• Google no longer uses rel next and rel prev to understand page sequences. Other search engines may still read them, so check their own documentation if they matter to you. If your pages already carry the tags, Google ignores them.
• Each page in the sequence needs its own address, for example one built with a page number parameter.
• Each page needs its own canonical. Pointing every page at page one is the wrong approach, because the later pages are not copies and their items may then go unindexed.
• Do not use a fragment, the part of an address after a hash sign, for the page number. Google ignores fragments.
• Link the pages with ordinary links, built as anchor elements with an href, so crawlers can follow them.

Read the current pagination documentation on Google Search Central before you build, since guidance can change.

Should paginated pages be indexed?

In most cases, leave them crawlable and let each page be its own page. Google's guidance gives every page its own canonical, which assumes the pages can be crawled and indexed. Whether page seven of a category will ever appear in results is a different question. It usually will not, because page one is the page that matches the search.

The value of page seven is as a route. Crawlers and visitors reach deeper items through it. If page seven is the only page that links to certain products, blocking or hiding it removes the path to them.

Sort orders and filters are a separate problem. They can create many addresses showing the same items in a different order, and you rarely want all of them indexed. Handle those with canonical tags, robots rules or both, and check the current documentation for details.

Is infinite scroll bad for search?

Infinite scroll and load more buttons are not bad in themselves. The risk is in how they are built. They usually depend on JavaScript, and Google's crawlers do not click buttons or trigger functions that need a user action. Items that load only after a scroll or a click may never be seen.

Google's guidance for making them search-friendly is specific.

• Give every chunk of content its own persistent address.
• Make the content at each address the same every time it loads.
• Use absolute page numbers, such as a page parameter set to twelve, and avoid relative ones such as yesterday's date.
• Link the addresses to each other in sequence so crawlers can discover them.
• Update the address in the browser with the History API as a new chunk becomes the main thing on screen.

A simple test is to switch off JavaScript and check if the later items can still be reached by links alone. If they cannot, add numbered pages underneath the scrolling list.

A checklist for paginated lists

A worked example: a notebooks category

Take a made-up stationery shop whose notebooks category is split across numbered pages. Page one sits at the category address and carries a short introduction about choosing a notebook, followed by the first products. Page two uses the same address with a page parameter, names itself in its canonical and has the heading Notebooks, page 2, with no repeated introduction. Every page links to the next and previous pages and to the numbered pages around it, using ordinary links.

A leather-bound notebook appears only on page six. Because each page links to its neighbours, crawlers can reach it by following the chain. Had the shop pointed every canonical at page one, or hidden pages two onwards from crawlers, the only routes to that product would be the sitemap and links from elsewhere.

Later the shop drops several lines and the list shrinks to five pages. The address for page six now returns a not found status, not an empty page that claims success. The discontinued notebook's own address redirects to the closest alternative.

Addresses for paginated pages

Choose one pattern and keep it. A page number parameter and a numbered folder both work. Page one should usually have the same address as the category itself, with the first-page parameter redirected to it, so you do not create a second copy of page one. The URL structure guide covers how to keep addresses clean and consistent.

Pages that shrink, disappear or move

When a list gets shorter, the last page can end up empty. Return a not found status for a page that no longer exists, not a blank page with a normal status. The HTTP status codes guide explains why the status matters.

When you restructure categories and the addresses change, redirect each old page to the nearest new one. The guide to 301 and 302 redirects explains which redirect to choose.

Long articles split across pages

An article published as part one of four on separate pages is paginated content too, and the same rules apply: separate addresses, a canonical for each page and real links between them. The deeper question is whether the piece should be split at all. The guide on how long a blog post should be looks at when one page, several posts or a contents list suits the reader better.

How to check your pagination

1. Open page two and page three of a list and read the addresses.
2. View the source of each page and find the canonical tag. Each should name its own page.
3. Switch off JavaScript, or use a tool that shows the page as a crawler sees it, and check that the next-page links are still there.
4. Crawl the site and look for items that are reachable only through one paginated page.
5. Request a page number that does not exist and confirm that it returns a not found status.
6. Look at your search reports for numbered pages that Google has excluded, and ask whether that matters for discovery of the items on them.

Write the pagination rules into the brief for any listing template. The SEO content brief guide shows what a good brief covers. If you want help auditing a large listing, the search engine optimisation service page describes the SEO work Liftup Technologies does.

Related guides

• SEO services
• Url structure for seo
• 301 vs 302 redirects explained
• Http status codes explained for seo

Questions and answers

What is pagination in SEO?

Pagination is the splitting of a long list into several numbered pages, as in product categories and blog archives. In SEO it covers how those pages are addressed, linked and canonicalised so that visitors and crawlers can reach every item.

Should paginated pages be indexed?

In most cases they should stay crawlable, each with its own canonical. Later pages rarely rank, but they are the route to deeper items. Sort and filter variants are different, and usually only some of them should be indexed.

Is infinite scroll bad for search?

Not by itself, but crawlers do not click buttons or scroll. Each chunk of content needs its own address that stays the same, with links between the addresses. Without that, items that load on scroll may never be found.

Does Google still use rel next and rel prev?

No. Google has said it no longer uses these tags to understand page sequences. Other search engines may, so check their documentation if they matter to your audience.

Should I use a view-all page instead of pagination?

For a short list, one page can work well. For a long list, a single page may be slow and heavy, especially on a phone. Choose by what suits your visitors and your page speed, and check the current Google documentation.

Should every paginated page have a unique title?

It is not required, but adding the page number to the heading and title helps readers tell pages apart, for example in browser tabs. Keep the main wording the same so the sequence stays easy to understand.

What happens if page two points its canonical at page one?

Google's guidance says not to do this, because the later pages are not copies of page one. The signal can lead to items on those pages being left out of the index. Give each page a canonical that names itself.